Episode 5 - Songwriting Dilemma
Episode 05 - Songwriting Dilemma - Is the fifth episode/chapter of Loveairaharune's first fan series, Pretty Rhythm: Melodic Dream. Plot Amane, Yumeko, and Sayuri are told that they need to come up with a new song for the competition, and the rest of the team push the responsibility on Amane, who now feels very stressed. Will she still manage to pull it off? Summary (Recap of whole episode) Yumeko and Sayuri ask Amane to write the song for them, and Amane is forced to write it on her own. She feels a bit left out and stressed, but is used to doing things on her own so she quickly gets to work. However, she cannot think of anything and is stuck. She even feels a little annoyed at her team for always making her do the work. After a conversation with Aira Harune, Amane questions about what her true feelings were, and she realized that she was actually very happy to be in Petal Sparkle, no matter how stressed she was. In the end, the trio sing "Yakusoku no Basho de" and Mion is impressed once more. The story will be written out in detail some time later. '' Story "Today is the day you'll be starting your official Goddess Tiara Cup training," said Mion. The three girls stared back at her. "Your dance training begins in 3 days, but for now, you need a song," said Mion. "A song which has the power to allow you to win. A song which you can dance to." "Umm... do you mean?..." asked Amane hesitantly. "Yes." "You're going to be writing a song!" "EHHHHHHHH!??!?!?!" *** "I can't believe we've gotta write a song," said Sayuri. "She could just, like, give one to us!" said Yumeko. Amane was silent. ''I know why she asked us to sing, ''thought Amane. ''She wants us to have the power to write songs and showcase our originality. But I have no idea how I can do that. "Let's try coming up with some ideas," said Amane, handing out sheets of paper. *** "Come on, just write something..." said Yumeko, peering over Amane's shoulder. "I just don't know," said Amane sighing. "How can you not know? You're so good at singing," said Yumeko. Even she phrased it as a compliment, it still kind of annoyed Amane. She clenched her jaw and kept thinking. "Sayuri, got anything?" asked Amane. "Um, what? Uh, no..." said Sayuri absent-mindedly. Amane sighed. No doubt Sayuri was texting someone on her phone again. *** As the girls left together, Amane was feeling more and more fed up. If the group weren't going to focus, they weren't ever going to get anything done. And I even thought they were improving on that, ''thought Amane. ''If they won't do it... I'll do it. "Okay, fine. I'll do it," said Amane. "Yayy! You're awesome!" said Yumeko, giving her a hug. Amane put on a weak smile, but she couldn't help thinking, What on earth should I write?!?!?! I have no idea. '' *** "Ughhhh." That was the first thing Amane thought of as she woke up. She had stayed up the entire night to write the lyrics... Amane ran over to her desk to check what she had written... ''When will the key open? I'm forever trapped here. When will the ice melt? I'm forever frozen stiff. I can't be free. I can't shine. I can't fly. There's no purpose for me here. She quickly crumpled that into a ball, and chucked it in the bin. I can't use lyrics like that! ''thought Amane. That afternoon, she hurried off to Pretty Top again, on her own this time because her teammates were apparently going to some party. Being alone didn't bother her though... it was the fact that her friends wouldn't even try. "Aira-san!" Amane found herself staring at the face of her heroine and friend. "Oh, Amane-chan! So you're early today!" said Aira. "Yeah, there were exams today. So we got to leave early, and finally my annoying mom would let me stay longer," replied Amane. "Exams? Aren't you worried about your scores at all?" asked Aira. "Umm, I'm actually kinda nervous," admitted Amane. "But I studied a lot too, so I think I'll be fine. The test wasn't actually that hard." "Wow," said Aira laughing. "I remember when it was my middle school exams, I got all stressed. I remember only getting a 68 and having to retake it!" Amane laughed and said, "So did you pass the second time?" "Yup! I got 90!" "Nice job," said Amane as she smiled. "So are you here for training?" asked Aira. "Well... I need to write a song. For the Goddess Tiara Queen Cup." Suddenly, Amane's smile vanished. "Aren't your friends going to help you?" asked Aira in surprise. "No." Amane stared at the floor. "They've gone off to a stupid party. But I can't go, can I? I've got to write a song. I've got to get in to the competition. I've got to win." "Amane..." Aira's voice trailed off. "How do you feel when you hear Prism Stars sing, Amane?" asked Aira. "I feel... I don't know! I just feel some sort of happiness which I can't describe," said Amane. "So that's how the audience has to feel when they hear your song! They have to have that feeling," said Aira. "That's the only way you can win!" "But..." "What are you singing about?" asked Aira. "I.. um..." "What do you want to symbolize?" Amane was silent. "How do you feel right now?" asked Aira. "Well... kind of fed up. Frustrated. Like I can't go on..." "But, are you just going to give up?" "Of course not. I have to win. I just have to. If I don't, all my efforts are wasted!" said Amane fiercely, which surprised herself. She was normally very un-competitive. "Wait..." said Amane. "I think... I've got it!" "Oh?" "Hang on Aira! I'll be right back," said Amane excitedly. *** "I must... show my true emotions." (Note that these lyrics are an english translation of Yakusoku no basho e from Kaleido Star. In my fanfic, Amane wrote the song, but I honestly take no credit for it, because this song doesn't belong to me. Thank you) ''The dream everyone is looking for is surely out there somewhere Until your wish comes true one day, you won't be alone. '' ''Sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose, but my feelings are overflowing too much I said "I can make it to the end!" but probably I was just pretending to be strong I'm always pushing myself too hard and spinning and circles because of it But you alone were at my side the whole time... The dream everyone is looking for is surely out there somewhere Until your wish comes true one day, you won't be alone. '' Amane looked back at her lyrics and smiled. "Perfect...." she thought. "I guess I could do it alone after all..." *** "Hey, Yumeko, Sayuri, I'm done! I'm done with the song!" "Oh, let's see," said Yumeko. Amane plugged in her earplugs and gave her phone to Yumeko. "Here, listen to it ." Yumeko was silent for a while. "So umm..." "Wow, that's you? You sound so cute! Like one of those voice actors!" exclaimed Yumeko. "Ehhh... thanks," said Amane awkwardly. But she was pleased all the same. "Wait! Lemme listen," said Sayuri, snatching the earplugs away from Yumeko. "Hey wait I'm not done yet-" "Oooh, this sounds good!" said Sayuri. "Hey give that back!" Sayuri laughed and ran off with the earplugs, with Yumeko chasing after her. Amane sighed in exasperation and shook her head. But she was laughing too. *** ''I'm always pushing myself too hard and spinning and circles because of it But you alone were at my side the whole time... "The girls have done a good job," said Mion smiling as she watched their performance once more. "I honestly didn't expect this kind of song coming out of them though." The dream everyone is looking for is surely out there somewhere Until your wish comes true one day, you won't be alone... "I've got nothing to lose!" called Sayuri. Millions of multicoloured music notes appeared around Sayuri, and the background was a very pale green as she laughed. "Musical Frenzy!" called Sayuri. The crowd screamed and screamed. "SAYURI!!!!" Then, Yumeko skated forward, and twirled up. A glowing red fireball rose up towards Yumeko, and laughing, she jumped on it, then bounced to another, until she bounced up high into the blue sky. "Prism Explosion!" yelled Yumeko. "YUMEKO-SAN!!!" yelled the crowd. I can't lose to them! I have to do that fly high jump again! '' With that, Amane twirled high in the air. This time, she was in a dark place, with glowing petals floating down towards her, light glowing through her hair. She jumped up, and this time, saw a glowing shadow at the light on top in place of the butterflies. For a moment, all the noise around her seemed to die down as she stared up at the shadow. Suddenly, the butterflies appeared again as the moment passed. ''"Sparkling Fairy Paradise!" ''called Amane. "It was a Fly High Jump Bonus again... " said Mion to Aira. "Amane did great," replied Aira. "I bet she has a chance of winning-" "They've still got a long way to go," said Mion, staring at the three girls laughing on stage as they finished their performance. "But I suppose this is a good first step." '~The end~'''